"gentlemen, the time has come! our salvation is nigh! our torment is near an end!" shouted a man in a large, ratty hat. bella immediately knew it must be barbossa.
"elizabeth," will breathed, spotting his love being shoved near the captain. he moved further down the tunnel to get a better look.
bella and jack stayed put, listening to the highly inspirational barbossa-style speech.
"jack!" will came hurrying back.
"not yet!" jack replied warningly. "we must wait for the opportune moment."
"when's that? when it's of greatest profit to you?" will asked angrily.
"may i ask you something?" jack spun around to will. "have i ever given you reason not to trust me? do us a favor. i know it's difficult for you, but please, stay here, and try not to do anything stupid."
bella gave will a look that said "listen to him".
jack continued down the stone tunnel, and bella followed. but then, she saw will coming up behind them.
in one swift movement, will hit jack square in the head with an oar.
"sorry, jack. i'm not gonna be your leverage."
"will!?!? are you insane!?!?" bella whisper-yelled.
"bella, i can't sit here and let them kill her!" will said, then ran off.
"fair enough," admitted bella. she crouched down and tried to get jack to wake up.
finally, jack's eyes blinked open. "jack, thank god," she said.
"the whelp has done it again," he muttered, sitting up.
"are you ok?"
"fine." he picked up the oar from the ground and stood up, making his way down the rest of the stone tunnel. bella followed, and they came to the exit.
however, they were faced by the entire crew of the black pearl.
"jack . . ." she trailed off frightenedly.
"you!" one of the pirates yelled. "you're supposed to be dead!"
jack pretended to look confused. "am i not?" he looked down at himself. "oh." he grabbed bella's arm and turned around the way they came.
more pirates suddenly appeared, drawing their swords.
this is where i die, thought bella.
"palulay," jack looked as though he was trying to remember a term. "palu-li-la-la-lulu. parlili, parsnip, parsley, partner..."
"parley?" one of the pirates broke in.
"that's the one! parley!" jack pointed at him triumphantly. "parley!!!" bella bit her lip to lessen her smile of understanding. she wouldn't die yet!
"parley??" the other pirate grimaced. "damn to the depths whatever man that thought up 'parley'!" he shoved his gun further into jack's face.
he pushed it down. "that would be the french."
the pirate smiled nastily. "well then," he said. "captain barbossa will be pleased to see you again."
the pirates grabbed them both and shuffled them along until they reached the center of the area.
bella annoyedly shook off the pirates holding her, who were looking at her lustfully. when the pirates reached out to hold her again, jack lightly shoved one of them aside and instead grabbed bella's arm, holding her somewhat close to him.
they all circled around jack and bella, until barbossa stomped forward.
"how the blazes did you get off that island?" barbossa asked.
"when you marooned me on that godforsaken spit of land, you forgot one very important thing, mate," jack's slight grin was apparent. "i'm captain jack sparrow!"
"ah, well, i won't be making that mistake again," barbossa said. "gents, you all remember captain jack sparrow? kill him."
all the pirates raised their guns and swords as barbossa turned away.
bella's eyes widened and she involuntarily grasped his arm closer.
"the girl's blood didn't work, did it?" jack said strongly. barbossa stopped in his tracks. bella looked at jack incredulously, but gratefully.
"hold your fire!" barbossa turned back around. "you know whose blood we need."
jack slightly nodded. "i know whose blood you need," he affirmed.
"ah . . . in that case, we won't be killing you yet," barbossa said. "gents, take sparrow and his . . ."
"colleague, ally, comrade, teammate," jack filled in. bella grinned at him, then looked at barbossa smugly. he glared back. "something along those lines."
". . . his companion back to the pearl."
* * *
"you expect to leave me on some beach with nothing but a name and your word it's the one i need, and watch you sail away with my ship?" barbossa asked jack regarding their agreement.
"no," jack answered. "i expect to leave you standing on some beach with no name at all, watching me sail away on my ship, and then i'll shout the name back to you."
"that still leaves the problem of me standing on some beach with naught but a name, and your word it's the one i need."
bella sighed. "of the two of you, jack is the only one who hasn't committed mutiny. therefore, his word is the one we'll be trusting."
"precisely. although, i suppose i should be thanking you, because, in fact, if you hadn't betrayed me and left me to die, i would have an equal share in that curse, same as you," jack put his feet up on barbossa's table, then tossed an apple to bella. "funny old world, isn't it?"
"captain, we're coming up on the interceptor," said a creepy man.
jack and bella followed barbossa out of the cabin. bella poked her head past the railing and saw the interceptor in the near distance. jack saw it too, then ran up the stairs to the quarterdeck with bella.
"i'm having a thought here, barbossa," jack said. "what say you we run up a flag of truce, bella and i scurry over to the interceptor, and we negotiate the return of your medallion, eh? what say you to that?"
"now, that's exactly the attitude that lost you the pearl," barbossa sneered. "people are easy to search when they're dead."
"dark," bella reacted.
barbossa didn't respond to her. "lock them in the brig," he said.
the creepy man from before came over and grabbed jack by the shoulders. jack found bella's hand and pulled her with him.
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